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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28000875">Hanukkah Biscuits</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagemeikenu/pseuds/nagemeikenu'>nagemeikenu</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hanukkah Fest 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Baking, Catholic!Sirius Black, First Meetings, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Neighbors, jewish!remus lupin, prompt 1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:22:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,172</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28000875</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagemeikenu/pseuds/nagemeikenu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter decides to welcome the new neighbors with biscuits! Sirius informs him that the neighbors are Jewish, and Peter's biscuits are shaped like Christmas trees. That sounds like the opposite of welcoming...<br/>What will the lads do now?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sirius Black/Remus Lupin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hanukkah Fest 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050842</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Marauders Hanukkah Fest 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hanukkah Biscuits</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! This is a fic for the Marauders Hanukkah Fest--and there will be a total of eight fics for each night of Hanukkah. Today's the first: You moved into the flat across the hall and I baked you cookies as a welcome gift, but they are Christmas tree shaped and I just noticed your menorah in the window.</p><p>I would like to thank my amazing beta and sensitivity reader <a href="https://arewelonely.tumblr.com/">@arewelonely</a> for helping me write about Jewish characters! Without her, this fic would certainly have been late and I would have been very nervous about it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Peter pulled the biscuits from the oven, pleased with the scent of ginger quickly filling his nostrils. They looked perfect; crisp, dark, and they’d kept their shape well. He moved them carefully to a cooling rack. None of them broke, which was a delightful surprise. There was still the sense of pride that he was able to cook well. Then again, it seemed to surprise everyone when he did anything well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Especially him. His roommate seemed to be the exception, but Sirius O. Black was the exception to a lot of things for Peter. Sirius was the only openly gay Catholic he’d ever met, the only rich person who wasn’t a snob and outright prick, and the only one who had ever expected him to be at least averagely skilled at anything. To Peter’s surprise, and Sirius’ confusion, he’d become quite adept at everyday things. Sirius hadn’t known him before he’d improved on basically everything, but Peter had.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Smells great, Pete! Ginger biscuits?” Sirius immediately headed straight for the cooling rack.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re for the new neighbors, so paws off!” Peter warned him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can’t I have one?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I’ve got more dough for ours,” Peter told him while washing his hands, “Could you check to see if they’re home? I don’t want to go over there if not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, it’ll keep me away from the temptation.” Sirius laughed as he left the room. Peter couldn’t help but chuckle as he dried off his hands. Once he’d gotten the dough rolled out again, he picked up a cutter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pete!” Sirius sounded out of breath as he entered the kitchen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes?” Peter turned to him after dipping the cutter into flour.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emergency!” Sirius panted. “I am a hundred percent certain that they’re Jewish!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Silence fell in the kitchen as Peter frowned at Sirius.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m...sorry?” Peter was baffled. Sirius was usually baffling, but typically he could dig out the why if not the what. In this case, he could not.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look at the biscuits, mate!” Sirius pointed enthusiastically. Peter turned, and saw that he’d made them into Christmas trees.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Peter gasped as the light dawned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I had to stop you before I went to the shops,” Sirius explained. “We can have those, and you can make the next batch of biscuits into dreidels or something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Peter beamed. “I’ll come with you once I get this dough back in the fridge! We’ll see if they have a Jewish cutter set.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A Jewish cutter set?” Sirius leaned on the counter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, of course.” Peter wrapped the dough back in cling film. “We’ve got a Christmas set, why shouldn’t we have a Hanukkah set?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Sirius blinked. “Yeah, that sounds good! You said ‘Jewish’ at first and I’d no idea what that meant as far as baking sets.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I should have specified.” Peter nodded as he closed the fridge. “Maybe we’ll find a set with Hebrew letters or something, it’d be fun to spell out things for future holidays.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can check the internet for that, probably,” Sirius mused. Peter grinned as he put on his boots. There was nothing he liked better than an excuse to buy cookery accessories.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They came home with a bag full of festive cutters, having found a lovely winter set and a Hanukkah set that included an American sugar cookie recipe that Peter was raring to try out. That would have to wait until after he’d cut out and baked the rest of the ginger biscuits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius made a beeline for the now cool biscuits, and Peter washed the new cutters he’d bought. There was a dreidel, a candle, a menorah, a star of David, and a shield; Peter wasn’t sure why there was a shield, but he didn’t really know what Hanukkah celebrated other than light. Maybe he could ask the neighbors to tell him the story.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d gotten the biscuits in the oven and made Sirius stop eating after three biscuits. Sirius had complained loudly that Peter wasn’t his father, and Peter had responded by saying he was doing much better as a father figure than Sirius’ ever did. Sirius had been too busy laughing to argue, so Peter set about making dinner while the biscuits baked and then cooled. Once they’d eaten dinner, and Sirius put the dishes in the dishwasher as per their roommate agreement, Peter decided to prepare for meeting the neighbors. Sirius couldn’t cook, and Peter hated cleaning, so they decided they’d each do what they were good at: Peter cooked, and Sirius kept everything tidy. The trouble was, now he had entirely too much time on his hands for the simple task of getting the biscuits ready for their foray across the hall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Choosing a biscuit tin was difficult. After much deliberation, Peter chose a green one with silver snowflakes. It was a favorite of his, and he hoped it was more neutral. The others were blatantly Christmassy. With a bit of anxious energy, he loaded the Hanukkah biscuits into the tin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ready?” Sirius dried his hands and looked at him expectantly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Peter squeaked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Take a deep breath,” Sirius said. “They’ll be happy to get biscuits, and meet a couple potential friends!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope you’re right,” Peter sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They made their way to the opposite flat, and Peter saw what Sirius had seen earlier: a thin metal decoration next to the door frame engraved with a Hebrew letter. There were muffled voices from inside, which told Peter that they were either arguing or singing. He hoped they were joyfully singing. Sirius knocked briskly, and Peter tried to slow his heart rate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the door opened, a tall, thin man with sandy hair smiled at them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hullo,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi,” Peter said, and smiled back. “We wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood, so we’ve got some ginger biscuits for you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks,” he grinned. “Jamie, get over here! Our neighbors brought biscuits!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Biscuits?” Another voice came into the picture.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Peter, and this is Sirius.” Peter gestured at his friend, who had yet to say a word.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Remus, and my roommate is James.” Remus gave the biscuit tin to James, who immediately opened it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ginger!” he crowed. “Excellent. Hey, these are Hanukkah biscuits!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We saw the, er…” Peter pointed at the engraved Hebrew adornment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a mezuzah,” Remus supplied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A...mezuzah,” Sirius finally spoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, we put it on our doorways.” Remus smiled, and took a biscuit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Sirius said, eloquently. Peter smiled when he saw the look on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks for bringing these by!” James said, mouth full. “They’re great.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re having a Hanukkah party this weekend, as a way to say hello to everyone,” Remus said. “You two are welcome to come.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’d love to,” Peter grinned. Being neighborly would certainly be interesting, given how Sirius was looking at Remus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Great,” James said after swallowing. “See you then!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See you!” Peter waved, and walked back across the hall with Sirius. He couldn’t wait to see how this evolved. For once, he wasn’t going to be the nervous one.</span>
</p>
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